Next Meeting

The next SAPIC meeting will be on April 13, 2013, at 10:00 AM at the Heritage Center located at 501 N. 4th St. in Burlington, Iowa. While traveling west on Highway 34 through Burlington exit using exit 263, the last exit before you cross the bridge into Illinois. At the bottom of the exit ramp turn right. You will be at an intersect with traffic lights and should be headed back towards the west. Travel through the intersection up the hill on Columbia Street for two blocks. The Heritage Center sets on the north west corner of the intersection of Columbia Street and North Fourth Street.

Coffee and doughnuts will be available prior to the meeting. Lunch will be on your own, but Big Muddy’s on the Mississippi, located in a building on the National Register of HIstoric Places, is recommended. Built as a freight house in 1898 by the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad, this building has been more commonly known as “The Old Rock Island Freight House.” Sumbolizing Burlington’s railroad and transportation heritage, it is the only substantial building of Victorian character directly on the riverfront today. In earlier years, both riverboats and other railroads used the freight house as a transfer point to send cargo as far north as Minneapolis, as far south as St. Louis and to many other points throughout the United States.

Donation to Oak Grove

November 15, 2011- Mike Magee, President, [left] SAPIC, presenting a donation in the form of a check for $200.00 to Philp Berglund, township trustee in Yell Township in Webster County, Ia. Donation to be used for repair and landscaping effort at Oak Grove Cemetery.

PHOTOS OF GRAVE RELOCATION AT OAKGROVE

SAPIC History

The State Association for the Preservation of Iowa Cemeteries was formed in 1996 as a result of legislation that allowed for each of the 99 counties to create a County Cemetery Commission. The focus of these Commissions was to rescue untended pioneer graves and cemeteries and to take responsibility for the upkeep of such sites. May is proclaimed Cemetery Appreciation Month each year by the Governor of the State of Iowa.

Our Pioneer Cemetery Concerns

Iowa law defines a Pioneer Cemetery as one in which there have been 12 or fewer burials in the past 50 years. If you know of a cemetery that qualifies for this distinction, and would like to have it recognized, please contact the State Association for the Preservation of Iowa Cemeteries to have it recorded. The law was changed from six to 12 burials in 2009 under 'standings bill' SJ 1150, and was signed by Gov. Chet Culver on May 26, 2009. See our PURPOSE above.

2013 SAPIC GRANT APPLICATION
Please include a membership application (if not already a member) which can be found here

SAPIC Cemetery/Grave Marker Survey

SAPIC developed a survey form for the detailed documenting of cemeteries. The public is encouraged to use this form for documenting and/or recording cemeteries anywhere, whether they be pioneer, city, church, private, etc. and regardless of condition. A Word version is available for typing directly into the boxes and a PDF version is available to print and write on.

Microsoft Word version                    PDF version

Do not let this form scare you! Recording a cemetery of any size does require extensive dedication, but with the diversity between cemeteries, it is unlikely that every field will be filled. It is still important to do your best and complete the survey as fully as possible. Some of the fields will require additional research away from the cemetery, including the utilization of the library, courthouse and online information. The goal of this form is merely to serve as a guide with terminology to better understand our cemeteries and as a starting point towards cemetery restoration. Many abandoned cemeteries are far from what the pioneers had envisioned in their cemetery's future. We can prevent what remains of our cemeteries from facing the same fate. There are no regulations requiring cemeteries to use this form, but many wish they had a universal form to record their cemeteries and prevent what currently exists from entering oblivion. For those of you who are determined to undertake this challenge, we commend you!